Caught In The Kings Spell

January 1522

As the auburn haired beauty that was Anne Boleyn walked through the snow and into the decorated hallways of Greenwich Palace she contemplated how things had changed in her time away from England. Returning to England had been a dream, she'd done her duty accompanying Mary Tudor, the King's sister to France for her marriage to Francis I, she served Queen Claude in the royal court of Burgundy and revelled in the freedom of learning she had there. She excelled under her guidance and care, her lute playing was the envy of the court, she mastered languages and learnt through some of the French and Burgundy lords matters of politics and religion. Something she knew would be frowned upon in the country of her birth where women served only one purpose, to be bedded and provide men with heirs.

Male heirs.

She watched her father approach her, his face filled with happiness at her return – it was with some trepidation that she returned the smile and curtseyed to him. A happy Thomas Boleyn meant only one thing – he and her Uncle, Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk has undoubtedly been plotting the rise of the Howard and Boleyn family once more.

“Father...”

“Daughter, you look beautiful – the French air has suited you but it is good to have you home.”

She did as was expected, curtseyed once more before making finding herself being escorted towards the one of the main rooms in the palace – she was to meet the King. After all, she was to join her sister Mary Carey as a maid of honour to the Queen Consort, Catherine of Aragon. Anne had been in this roll for three of the greatest women, the Archduchess Margaret of Austria, Queen Mary of France and Burgundy, Queen Claude of France and Burgundy and now Catherine. Her father and Uncle were delighted.

Her return to England was to be a happy one, she was to marry James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond, the future was looking bright for the youngest daughter and middle child of the Earl of Wiltshire. He was a good man though Anne knew the marriage was one of convenience that had been orchestrated by the men in her life, to manage and resolve a dispute over the Earldom of Ormond involving her father. No one married for love it seemed, not even His Highness, King Henry VIII. Making her way through the room, her eyes locked ahead she wasn't aware of the man eyes that stared at her. Her arrival had been spoken about behind closed doors by many, the cynics believing that she was back at court for her father and Uncle to gain a closer bond to his Highness and not to do with the marriage.

Her great beauty was duly noted by many, and the young page of Thomas Wolsey, and son of the 5th Earl of Northumberland, Henry Percy was one amongst many others. It was a brief locking of eyes between the pair that sparked a natural curiosity in Anne, and she found herself breaking the emotionless mask she'd been wearing to meet his Highness and Queen Catherine and gave the young man a smile that was quickly hidden away.

Anne found herself standing before the King himself, his face filled with disinterest at something his Queen was saying. It was known throughout the many courts of Christendom that his marriage to Queen Catherine of Aragon was not as strong as it had once been. With no heir to the throne, or rather male heir living, Henry it was well known, had taken many a lady as a mistress only to cast her to Charles Brandon before his marriage to the Kings sister, or his other close friends. The man who had intrigued her, how could he not – he was seen to be the greatest King in the whole of Christendom and he had an aura about him that made you want to know him, to be close to him. Waiting patiently at her fathers side for him to see her, Anne thought of the whispers she'd heard in her own rooms between her maids. Henry was supposed to have taken her own sister, Mary Carey to his bed – she doubted very much that this was down to Mary or even Henry in a way but the arrogance and desire for power that her Uncle possessed. If the rumours were true, and Anne was determined to find out if they were from her Father, things for the Boleyn would or could change dramatically if Mary became a favourite of the King and even more so if she conceived a son that he would acknowledge as his own. After all, Elizabeth Blount had given birth to a son, Henry, some eighteen months ago and he had been acknowledged as his illegitimate son by the King.